Agnes Alexander
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Agnes Baldwin Alexander (1875–1971) was an American author and distinguished member of the
Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...
.


Life

Agnes Baldwin Alexander was born on July 21, 1875, in the
Kingdom of Hawaii The Hawaiian Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ɛ ɐwˈpuni həˈvɐjʔi, was an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country from 1795 to 1893, which eventually encompassed all of the inhabited Hawaii ...
. She was the youngest of five children born to William DeWitt Alexander and Abigail Charlotte Alexander, née Baldwin. Miss Alexander was a scion of two of Hawaii's most illustrious
Christian missionary A Christian mission is an organized effort to carry on evangelism, in the name of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries. Sometimes individuals are sent and ...
families—the Alexanders and the Baldwins. Her father was one of Hawaii's most famous men as President of Oahu College, author of ''A Brief History of the Hawaiian People'', and first Surveyor-General of the
Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...
. Alexander graduated from Oahu College in 1895, later doing undergraduate work at
Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...
and U.C. Berkeley. After teaching for a few years, she fell prey to chronic illness. In 1900, she joined a group of Islanders who were going on a tour of Europe. While in Rome in November of that year, she encountered an American Baháʼí woman and her two daughters who were returning from a Baháʼí pilgrimage in the
Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...
, and they shared with her about the faith. As the result of an epiphany one night, which she described as “neither a dream nor vision”, she embraced the Baháʼí Revelation and accepted it as God's new message to humanity as proclaimed by
Baháʼu'lláh Baháʼu'lláh (, born Ḥusayn-ʻAlí; 12 November 1817 – 29 May 1892) was an Iranian religious leader who founded the Baháʼí Faith. He was born to an aristocratic family in Iran and was exiled due to his adherence to the messianic Báb ...
. At the request of Baháʼu'lláh's eldest son,
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (; Persian: , ;, 23 May 1844 – 28 November 1921), born ʻAbbás (, ), was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, who designated him to be his successor and head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 un ...
, who was then head of the Baháʼí Faith, Miss Alexander pioneered the Baháʼí Faith in
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
in 1914. In 1921 she became the first Baháʼí to introduce the New Gospel in Korea. Except for extended vacations in Hawaii, Agnes spent over thirty years in Japan. Alexander was an early advocate of
Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...
and used that new international language to help spread Baháʼí teachings at meetings, conferences, and in articles. In 1957, Bahá'u'lláh's great-grandson
Shoghi Effendi Shoghí Effendi (; ;1896 or 1897 – 4 November 1957) was Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith from 1922 until his death in 1957. As the grandson and successor of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, he was charged with guiding the development of the Baháʼí Faith, in ...
, the Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith, appointed Agnes Alexander a
Hand of the Cause of God Hand of the Cause was a title given to prominent early members of the Baháʼí Faith, appointed for life by the religion's founders. Of the fifty individuals given the title, the last living was ʻAlí-Muhammad Varqá, who died in 2007. Hands o ...
, the highest rank a person may hold as an individual Baháʼí. In 1964, Alexander represented the
Universal House of Justice The Universal House of Justice is the nine-member supreme ruling body of the Baháʼí Faith. It was envisioned by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, as an institution that could legislate on issues not already addressed in the ...
, the supreme administrative body of the Baháʼí Faith, at the election of Hawaii's first
National Spiritual Assembly Spiritual Assembly is a term given by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to refer to elected councils that govern the Baháʼí Faith. Because the Baháʼí Faith has no clergy, they carry out the affairs of the community. In addition to existing at the local level ...
in
Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
. After suffering a broken hip in 1965, and spending two years in a
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
hospital, Agnes Alexander returned to her birthplace in Honolulu in 1967. Ironically, the Arcadia residence where she spent her last four years was adjacent to where she was born on Punahou Street. On January 1, 1971, Alexander died. She is buried behind Kawaiahao Church amidst her missionary forebears.


Family tree

Agnes Alexander is related to several notable people including: Amos Starr Cooke, David Dwight Baldwin, William Owen Smith, Samuel T. Alexander, Henry P. Baldwin, and
Annie Montague Alexander Annie Montague Alexander (29 December 1867 – 10 September 1950) was an Exploration, explorer, Natural history, naturalist, Paleontology, paleontological collector, and Philanthropy, philanthropist. She founded the University of California Museu ...
. Her father's parents were William P. Alexander and Mary Ann McKinney, and her mother's parents were Dwight Baldwin and Charlotte Fowler.


Works

Before moving abroad, Miss Alexander owned a popular restaurant in Honolulu. In 1912 she published a cookbook of her recipes entitled "How To Use Hawaiian Fruit". At the request of Shoghi Effendi, Agnes Alexander wrote two histories: "Personal Recollections of a Bahá’í Life in the Hawaiian Islands: Forty Years of the Bahá’í Cause in Hawaii, 1902-1942" and "History of the Baháʼí Faith in Japan, 1914-1938". Both of these volumes were published posthumously.


See also

* Baháʼí Faith in Japan


References


Further reading

* * * * *Troxel, Duane K. (1984) "Agnes Baldwin Alexander" in ''Notable Women of Hawaii,'' Barbara Bennett Peterson (ed.). Honolulu, HI, USA. University of Hawaii Press.


External links

*Agnes Alexander a
Find-a-Grave.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Agnes Baldwin American Bahá'ís Hands of the Cause American Esperantists 1875 births 1971 deaths Converts to the Bahá'í Faith 19th-century Bahá'ís 20th-century Bahá'ís Writers from Hawaii Burials at Kawaiahaʻo Church Oberlin College alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni